Destiny
by Shalheira
Summary: Every citizen at the age of 16 must apply to one of the existing 2000 organizations. Gareki has lived in organization number 2000 for as long as he could remember and never expect to move from the area until a fateful encounter with a certain second ship captain. No pairing
1. Chapter 1

**AN:**I appreciate all reviews and advise on how to make my writing better. Please let me know what you think.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Karneval or any of it's character, just my ideas

**Updates:** Look of profile

* * *

Two hundred years ago, the world was conquered by one country. The new king combined the world into one nation, but divided it into 2000 societies or organizations. The rich and prosperous organizations are those of the lower numbers while the poverty-stricken organization are those of the higher numbers.

At the age of 16, all of the citizen must apply to the organizations. Although they may apply, whether or not they are accepted is up the captains of each organization. The goal for most citizen's is to make into the lowest organization possible; however, that could mean leaving behind everything they once knew.

* * *

-BEEP BEEP-

The blaring sound of the alarm clock awoke a raven haired teenager from his sleep. Throwing his hand across his nightstand, he fumbled around till he hit the off button on his alarm clock. 'So annoying,' the boy thought. He hated having the wake up early every morning. Today, however, wasn't like every other morning, today was the day of the organization choosing and the day that will decided the rest of his life. Not that the boy seemed to care.

Getting out of bed he got dressed, pulling on black pants along with a black, one-sleeved undershirt and black gloves, threw on his long blue coat over the top, and slipped on some brown, lace less shoes. Walking back over to his night stand, he grabbed his signature goggles and placed them on his head. Lastly, he grabbed his ID card which had a picture and the name Gareki on the front.

Stepping out of his house, Gareki looked around the neighborhood that he had lived in for as long as he could remember. Of course, being the number that his community was, the neighborhood that Gareki lived in was poverty-stricken. His "house" was nothing more than a half-rundown building with shattered windows and a piece of metal that served as a sad excuse for a door.

After the accident on the slave ship, he had ended up on the shore of the organization number 2000 area. Tsubaki had taken him in and cared for him along with the twins, Yotaka and Tsubame.

Gareki had moved out of their house some time ago and started living on his own. He hadn't seen the twins in over two years and curiously wondered what had happened to them. Since they were one year older than him, they had their organization choosing a year ago and he had no idea which one they had been accepted into. He hoped that it was a lower than this one so they didn't have to struggle to find food and shelter.

Gareki didn't expect to move up to a different organization number, after all, he's never done anything worth noticing. He was only going because he had to and he really didn't feel like having trouble with the government this time. He had been caught a few times stealing, but he was only left off with only a warning.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Gareki walked down the street in the direction of the train station that would take him to Central City where the event was being held. All the citizens that were currently sixteen, no matter what organization you are already in, had to go to Central City to be chosen for an organization.

After waiting nearly an hour for the train—which didn't do well to his already unpleasant mood—he was shoved into a cramped and over packed compartment. The ride was uncomfortable, with being squished between multiple people, and he was forced to stand the entire 45 minute train ride.

He was herded off the train with the rest of the passengers onto the train platform. A huge sign overhead read, "Welcome to Central City." Walking out of the station, Gareki noticed the large number of brightly colored booths that were lined up along every street, trying to sell souvenirs and food to the passersby. The first impression he got of the city was that it looked like a carnival.

Ignoring the tourist attractions, Gareki continued walking to the center of the town, taking little interest in anything. 'This is a complete waste of my time,' Gareki thought. 'All I need to do is swipe my card through the organization number 2000 and then I can go home. After all, there's no way I couldn't be accepted into the highest organization.' While Gareki was lost in his thoughts he didn't notice the fast approaching white haired boy until they collided into one another.

Gareki stumbled back but managed to catch himself before he fell, but the white haired boy, however, wasn't as well balanced and fell back, landing hard on his tail-bone. Gareki looked down at the young boy who was dressed in a plain white long sleeved shirt, dark blue shorts, and white tennis shoes.

"S-sorry," the boy stammered as he quickly got up, " I-I didn't hurt you did I?"

"Tsk, I'm fine, I'm not the one who ended up on the ground." replied Gareki, looking into the bright red eyes that lit up when he realized he didn't hurt the boy he had run into.

The white haired boy quickly nodded and ran around him,"Excuse me, I have to go."

'What's with that guy,' Gareki thought after the boy had run off. He decide to ignore the encounter and continued to the center which, Gareki saw as he approached, was packed with hundreds of people. The event area, which consisted of multiple streets and took up and area of about five miles, was blockaded off by large, silver metal gates.

"Welcome to the organization choosing," said a voice over a loud speaker. "Please keep in mind that whichever institution you become apart of at the end of the day will become your permanent residence. With that, you may now begin your search, good luck."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**  
Let me know what you guys think about the story, I appreciate reviews. I promise this chapter is better than the other one xD

**Warning:** Characters many be a little OC

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Karneval

* * *

_"Welcome to the organization choosing," said a voice over a loud speaker. "Please keep in mind that whichever institution you become apart of at the end of the day will become your permanent residence. With that, you may now begin your search, good luck."_

The gates that had once blockaded off the center area were now pushed open, allowing the huge crowd of people to flow in. Gareki followed the crowed through the gates into the open area where the large group began to disperse, going to their desired sections. Each organization was represented by their own board, which was approximately 12 feet long. Spaced out evenly on each board were five card slots where, if you wished to apply, you would slide your card through, sending ones information to the organization captains. Each board was decorated, representing what each had to offer.

Starting off right next to the first entrance, since there were many entrances into the area, were the highest numbered organizations. The first to be seen was number 2000. The board itself was barely decorated since the organization didn't have much to offer. There were a few pictures of the better sections of the city—that didn't look completely rundown—with just a pain grey background. Although it was the highest number, the board had a long line of people applying. It was a wise idea to apply to the one organization that didn't refuse anyone, considering its rank, encase you couldn't get accepted into any other number.

Gareki waited in line for nearly half an hour before it was his turn. He walked up to the board and in one quick motion, he swiped his card through, sending his application electronically to the organization captain. As he walked away, he felt his cell phone vibrate, indicating that he had already been accepted. It wasn't surprising, since all citizens have to belong to an organization, the highest one is forced to accept all applications that apply.

Gareki glanced down at his cell phone to check the time and found that it was only 2 pm. He couldn't leave until all organizations had decided to accept or deny the candidates and the deadline wasn't until midnight. Letting out a sigh, Gareki decided to walk down toward the lower numbered areas, since he had ten hours to kill.

* * *

"Hey, Hirato, why don't we accept a new candidate this year," said a bored first ship captain.

"You know as well as I do that we can't just accept anyone because we want to," replied the man named Hirato. He was currently looking through the applications that had applied, and so far he had found nothing relevantly close to anyone meeting the requirements. Circus typically looked for candidates that had at least some experience in fighting and had scored goods remarks on it. They were also judged on personality and how well they might be in stressful situations. There had yet to be anyone applying that had any fighting experience at all. "From the looks of things, no one is going to be accepted this year."

Standing up from his chair, Hirato sent the holograhic files to the first ship captain, named Tsukitachi, with a wave of his hand. "Continue looking through the applications and notify me if you find one that maybe accepted. I'm going to head down to the city and take a look around."

"W-wait a second! You can't just leave all the work to—" Before the first ship captain could finish Hirato had already vanished from the room, leaving only silence in his wake.

* * *

In the past six hours, Gareki had stopped and applied at twenty two different organizations to entertain himself but his patients was quickly running short. It was only 8 pm and he still had four more hours to go. It had become dark so the streets were illuminated by the street lights and the lights shinning off of the boards. Gareki sighed and looked around at his surroundings. He was currently standing next to the organization number 104. Compared to number 2000, this one had a bright blue background and multiple pictures of parts of a large looking city and what appeared to be high ranking people in it's society. The women in the pictures were dressed long dark colored dresses and and men were dressed in formal dress shirts with dark colored ties.

It looked like an easy place to live with having enough money to afford a nice apartment and having fancy dress clothes that you could wear whenever you want. Most people would jump at the chance to move up from a place in the ghetto area of number 2000 and into the semi-rich city of area 104 where you would never have to struggle to live. Districts like that, however, are the places where Gareki would feel suffocated and trapped in a repetitive lifestyle. Gareki would pick living in the ghettos over living in a stiff environments anytime. Not that he had to worry though, it wasn't like he would be picked to move to an organization like that anyway.

In the past couple of hours, Gareki's phone had gone off 3 times, indicating that he had also been accepted into three other organizations. He had yet to check which ones had accepted him, but that was something he could worry about later. He continued walking until he had reached the lowest two numbers. They each had the longest lines he had seen today.

Organization number two: Kafka. It was rumored that they did illegal genetic research and experimentation but it had yet to be proven. It was, however, widely known for their brilliant scientists and medical researchers. The organization took in, on average, two people each year that either went into the science or medical fields of study. Their board consisted of metallic silver background and was filled with pictures of some of their medical and science labs. One person in particular in the pictures caught Gareki's attention. He had light blue hair along with light blue eyes and was wearing black coat that contrasted strongly with the silver background of the board. He had an odd feeling about him but Gareki couldn't place what it was. He then turned his attention the other organization.

Organization number one: Circus. It is known to the public as a defense organization that works for the government and performs raids to capture criminals and solve crimes. Circus had its own rumors circling their actions. People say they hunt strange looking monsters and have even raided Kafka. The hate and suspicion between the two organizations was not a secret to the public. Circus has been looking for a way to expose Kafka's illegal genetic research for years but has never found enough proof to do so. The chances of getting into Circus was very slight considering the irregularity of the candidates they pick. The most recent candidates accepted was a girl from last year, and the other was a boy from six years earlier. Their board was splashed with multiple bright colors and had pictures of some of the Circus members on the front. One consisted of two girls, one with long blond hair pulled into pigtails and the other had long turquoise colored haired pulled into a ponytail. Another picture consisted of a boy who had short blond hair and a bandage on his cheek.

Gareki was tempted for a moment to apply to the two organizations but he had to consider whether he was willing to sacrifice his pride if he didn't get accepted. Deciding that he didn't have much to lose Gareki spent the next two hours waiting to send in his application. Gaerki checked the time and it read 10:30 pm. 'Great, now what am I suppose to do for the ne—' Gareki halted mid-thought when he heard a commotion up ahead.

* * *

Hirato had been walking around in the streets for nearly two hours now. He had taken Tsukumo down with him to help look for a possible candidate and they had split up to search. He was dressed in his usual black suit, black top hat and with his cane. Just as he was coming to the lower numbered area he heard a commotion up ahead. He ventured closer to hear exactly what was going on.

"Look what you did you punk! You messed up my clothes, now how are you going to pay for it?" said a large muscular looking man.

"I-I'm sorry, but I-I don't have any money on me," said a timid white haired boy.

"Then maybe I'm just going to have to beat it out of you," said the man as he picked up the young white haired boy by the front of his shirt. Hirato was about to step in when a raven haired boy stepped forward.

The young man in the blue coat reach around from behind the man and grabbed the wrist that was holding the white haired boy. "Why don't you go someplace where you might actually win a fight," the boy said.

* * *

"Why don't you go someplace where you might actually win a fight," Gareki said. He met the man's glare with a glare of his own. Gareki gripped the man's wrist hard enough that it forced him to release the white haired boy. The man turned to him and pulled his wrist free from Gareki's grip before taking a few steps back to put space between them. He reached his hand around and grabbed the gun that was his pack pocket. Gareki saw his movement and reached around to grab his own gun that he carried. The man fired one bullet directly at Gareki's chest. At that moment, Gareki let his reflexes take over and aimed the gun to match the projectile of the man's and fired his own bullet. The two bullets collided midair, flattening from the equal force exerted from both sides.

The people around them seemed to pause for a moment, not able to believe what had just occurred. Gareki took that moment of confusion to kick the gun from the man's hand, disarming him, and hold his gun toward him. "That's quite enough, anymore shots fired and you'll both be put under arrest," a man dressed in a black suit stepped forward with a look that said he was not to be messed with.

The man tsked before turning his back and walking away. Gareki sighed and returned his gun to his back pocket and looked toward the boy who was still sitting on the ground in shock. Gareki rubbed the back of his head before extending a hand to the boy. "Are you OK?" he asked.

"I-I'm alright, thank you!" the boy replied with a smile lighting up his face as he took Gareki's hand. "My name is Nai!"

"Gareki," he replied pulling the boy up.

"That's quite the aim you got there," said the black dressed man startling Gareki who had almost forgot the man was there. "I am Hirato, second ship captain of the organization Circus."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews, I appreciate your comments. Please keep reviewing :3  
Thank you to Valasca for helping get this story started.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Karneval or any of it's characters, just this story plot

**Updates:** Look of profile

* * *

_"That's quite the aim you got there," said the black dressed man startling Gareki who had almost forgot the man was there. "I am Hirato, second ship captain of the organization Circus."_

_'Circus? Great if Circus is interested in us it can't be good,' _Gareki thought as he eyed Hirato suspiciously. _'What's a captain doing here anyway?'_

"I must ask that you do not use your gun in a public vicinity," Hirato said coolly to Gareki.

"What? But if I hadn't, he would have—"

"If you will excuse me I have business I need to attend to." Hirato continued talking as if Gareki hadn't spoken. "I will be seeing you two soon." With that, Hirato vanished into the crowed of passersby.

"Soon?!"

* * *

Hirato walked into the command area aboard the first ship where first ship captain Tsukitachi sat in a chair with his head down on the dash board. Hirato sighed and walked over to the sleeping captain. Bending down next to him he asked, "Find any candidates?" Tsukitachi bolted upright at hearing the second ship captain speak.

"N-No, not yet! But I'm still looking!" Tsukitachi exclaimed, embarrassed that he had been caught sleeping on the job. Soon after Hirato had left, Tsukitachi had continued looking at the files but quickly got bored and ended up falling asleep. He glanced at the time, _'Guess I've been asleep for longer than I thought.'_

"While you're at it, I want to look up a couple files for me under the names Gareki and Nai," Hirato said as he moved to stand behind Tsukitachi's chair. Tsukitachi did as he was asked and pulled up the two files. The file under the name Gareki contained a picture of the boy he had met earlier but hardly anything else. It had his first name, age, and a small description of him. Likewise, Nai's file was about the same, containing only the basic information.

"Can I ask why you wanted to see their files?" Tsukitachi asked. If he had looked at the files when they applied, he wouldn't have given them a second thought, after all, there was nothing remarkable about the teenagers that would have caught his attention.

"I think we may have just found this year's candidates." Hirato said with a grin. He pulled out his cell phone a dialed a certain blond haired lieutenants number. "Yogi, it's me. I need you to do something for me."

* * *

Figuring that _soon_ can't be good, Gareki didn't want to stick around and wait for the captain to return so he began walking to put as much distance between him and the Circus area as possible. It was ten minutes to midnight and after he hears the chime of the large area clock he can go home and forget this day ever happened. After walking nearly a mile of random turns and streets he still sensed the boy following him. "Hey, why do you keep following me? Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" Gareki was getting annoyed at being followed around by a lost puppy.

"U-Um Gareki's the nicest person I met today and I was hoping to go where Gareki goes," Nai said jogging to keep up with him.

_'Great, doesn't this kid know anything about following strangers?' _Gareki thought with a sigh as he turned to the kid. "Look Nai—" Gareki was intercepted by the chime of the clock, indicating that it was midnight. At the same time the chime rang, his phone vibrated twice indicating he had two new accepted applications. Gareki pulled out his phone and looked at the messages. One text read, "Congratulations, you have been accepted into Kafka." The other read, "Congratulations, you have been accepted into Circus." _'What?! I've been accepted?' _Gareki thought as he looked over at Nai who was also checking his phone.

"Did Gareki get accepted into Circus too?" Nai asked with a bright smile.

_'So he got accepted too?' _Gareki couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with that captain they had met earlier.

Now he had decide if he wanted to go to Kafka, Circus or to return home. His current life was a struggle, but that is all that he has known his entire life. Although it was unpleasant, he was familiar with the environment and wasn't sure if he wanted to leave that behind. On the other hand, he had just been accepted into the top two organizations in the world and this was a once in a lifetime chance. For a moment he had considered going to Kafka but was it wise to join the enemy of Circus? He was also suspicious as to why he had been accepted into Kafka, he hasn't even met anyone from that organization and he doubted his application was good enough to get their attention.

The people in the street began clearing away, going to the organizations they had been accepted into. Glancing over at Nai, Gareki knew he didn't have much of a choice now. Nai would follow him no matter where he went and he really didn't feel like taking care of a kid in the 2000 district. _'Now where do we...'_

"Um are you Gareki and Nai?" said a slightly high voice behind them. Gareki turned around and to look at the person who had spoke to them. His eyes rested on a young blond haired male who was wearing a long sleeved light yellow shirt that was ripped at the bottom, green pants and brown boots that nearly went up to his knees.

"Who's asking?" Gareki said, not willing to give out information unless he knew who he was talking to.

"My name is Yogi and I am the lieutenant of the second ship, I'm here to pick up a Gareki and Nai and bring them with me," Yogi said with a smile.

"Circus?!" exclaimed an unknown voice. "You mean to tell me that these kids got accepted into Circus and I didn't?" The trio turned to see a group of men approaching them. The in the front, whom they assumed had just spoken, had his fists clutched in anger.

"I-I'm sorry but Hirato doesn't think you meet the requirements," Yogi said attempting, and failing, to calm the man down.

"Why don't you stop whining like a child and go to the organization that was willing to let someone like you join," Gareki said coolly. The guy stepped closer, easily towering over the raven haired teenager.

"I could crush a punk like you with one hand tied behind my back," the man said, grabbing Gareki by the front of his shirt.

"U-Um please no fighting! Can't we all just get along here?" Nai said trying to step between the two.

"Don't bother Nai, this guys probably been beaten so many time he doesn't know when to stay down." Gareki said. He saw the man's movement when it started. The man had raised his fist back and was bringing it down to his face but before Gareki could react, the man was already on the ground, pinned beneath Yogi.

"Fighting is not allowed here, those who insist on fighting will be put under arrest." Yogi said keeping the man in a hold. The rest of the guys who had come with their "Leader" moved to attack Yogi but in less than thirty seconds, all men were down on the ground. Gareki watched in amazement as Yogi took down each person with ease not even breaking a sweat. Maybe Circus was the right organization to join after all. "What a relief, I'm glad that's over. I get so nervous every time I have to fight," Yogi said breathing out a sigh of relief. "I'll send someone down to pick these guys up later but for now will you two come with me?"

Before either Gareki or Nai could respond Yogi had wrapped an arm around their waist and flew into the air. "Wow, amazing!" Nai exclaimed as they climbed higher and higher. Gareki looked up and saw the blue bottom of the famous Circus ship. As they were flying closer, Gareki noticed there was no opening on the bottom and it looked like they were going to crash into it. Gareki subconsciously gripped tightly onto Yogi and braced himself for the collision, but it never came. Instead, they came into the entrance hall of the second ship.

"Don't worry Gareki, I wouldn't let you get hurt," Yogi said smiling at him. Gareki looked away to hide his embarrassment. "I'm home!"

"Welcome back, Welcome back," the sheep exclaimed.

"You two say it too," Yogi told them.

"I'm home!" Nai said to the sheep.

"I'm home..." Gareki said as well. _'What a weird saying.'_

"Voice recognition confirmed," the sheep reply.

* * *

It was late in the evening and Gareki and Nai were sitting across from Hirato on the couches in his office. After Yogi had finished giving them a very thorough tour of the ship, they had been led to Hirato's office. The office consisted of a dark wood desk that sat in front of huge ceiling to floor windows that took up the entire wall. Books lined the two other walls and in the middle of the room were the two couches that the three people in the room now occupied.

"I'm glad that you two decided to join Circus," Hirato said, breaking the silence that had descended on the room.

"Tsk, not that you gave us much choice," Gareki mumbled to himself. _'Whether we wanted to come or not that blonde haired weirdo was going to bring us anyway.'_

"As you know, Circus is a defense organization that serves the government. We perform the jobs that the police and government officials can not," Hirato explained, ignoring Gareki's earlier statement. "All Circus members wear a Circus I.D. that allows them certain abilities such as flying, which you witnessed earlier. Before either of you two become official fighters of Circus you must complete your training and therefore will not participate in raids until then. You will learn more about Circus the longer you spend on the ship, there is far too much to teach you right now. Tomorrow you two have a physical with our doctor Akari and begin your training. For now, Yogi will show you to your rooms."

Yogi entered through the door as if he had been waiting for a signal. "Gareki, Nai, this way!" Yogi said a little too excitedly. As the two walked out, Gareki lingered behind.

"Hirato, can I ask something?" Gareki asked a little unsure.

"Yes what is it," Hirato replied turning his full attention to the raven haired teen.

"Why exactly did you accept us? There was nothing on my application that should have been interesting to you and Nai certainly doesn't know how to fight."

Hirato smiled as he studied the teen. "We all have our reasons Gareki, you'll find that out soon." The statement was final and told Gareki that wasn't going to get anymore information out of the captain so he nodded his head and left. Yogi and Nai were waiting for him when he left the room and they began walking down the maze of hallways. Yogi and Nai talked the entire time but Gareki didn't care to join their conversation.

They reached the area where their rooms were. Gareki's room was right next to Nai's room. Because they were now members of Circus, they each received their own rooms. "Um...Lets see...the cafeteria is down the hall to the right, the training area is to the left and each room has it's own bathroom so you guy's should be set. My room is only three doors down so come to my room if you need anything or get lonely," Yogi said cheerfully to them.

Gareki rolled his eyes and walked into his room shutting the door. The clock over on the side read 2:30 am and Gareki realized how exhausted he was. Throwing his coat onto the chair that was sitting next to the desk in the room, Gareki fell onto his bed, still fully clothed. He closed his eyes, falling to sleep almost instantly_. 'Tomorrow's going to be long day'_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I think this story is coming along well and I have lot's of ideas for this story so please review n.n

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Karneval or any of the characters, just my ideas

**Updates:** Look of profile

* * *

_Gareki rolled his eyes and walked into his room shutting the door. The clock over on the side read 2:30 am and Gareki realized how exhausted he was. Throwing his coat onto the chair that was sitting next to the desk in the room, Gareki fell onto his bed, still fully clothed. He closed his eyes, falling to sleep almost instantly. 'Tomorrow's going to be long day'_

"Time to get up, Baa." Gareki was awoken when a sheep came into his room. He rolled over onto his side and glared at the sheep standing beside his bed. What he wouldn't give right now to smash that sheep into pieces. "Report to the cafeteria for breakfast, Baa." With that the sheep walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Gareki hauled himself out of bed and looked at the clock on his nightstand, it read 7 am. _'It's too damn early,' _Gareki thought as he wiped away the sleepiness from his tired eyes. He looked around his unfamiliar room and noticed that there were a new set clothes folded neatly on his desk. They were identical to the ones he had been wearing the previous day, even down to the last stitch. Picking up the clothes he walked into the bathroom that was connected to his room. After a quick glance around Gareki concluded that the bathroom contained all the necessities he would need and proceeded to take a shower.

It was the nicest shower Gareki had ever taken and he couldn't help but linger in it a little longer than necessary. He regrettably had to leave and head down to the cafeteria for breakfast_. 'Lets see, I believe he said down the hall to the right..' _Gareki thought as he ventured out of his room. Following his remembered directions he came upon a large room that contained seven long tables, many ceiling to floor windows and long buffet table holding an incomprehensible number of different foods.

Gareki walked over to the buffet table and pick out a few foods that he _did_ recognize since he didn't feel like being adventurous today. "Gareki! Over here!" yelled a overly cheerful voice for the early morning. He looked over and met the blond haired man's eyes. Even though he really didn't want to he forced himself to walk over and sit next to the cheerful idiot and Nai.

"Did you sleep well last night Gareki?" Nai asked as he continued to eat his food.

"Guess so," Gareki replied nonchalantly. Truth be told, last night was the best night that Gareki had ever had. He had fallen into the most peaceful sleep after laying down on the bed and didn't wake up once in the night, unless you count that aggravating sheep from this morning. Gareki ate the rest of his meal in silence as he listened to Yogi and Nai talk about what animal they thought was cutest.

* * *

After breakfast, Yogi showed them to the medical examination room where they waited for Akari. As soon as Akari came in, Yogi stuttered out a quick goodbye and bolted from the room. Gareki was led to a bed where Akari performed a normal check up that only took about five minutes. When he was done he hopped off the bed. For the first time, he noticed that another figure was standing in the room, leaning against the wall next to the door. The person had short black hair and was wearing a long, black sleeved shirt with a purple tie, grey pants and black boots that went up nearly to his knees. To top it off, he was wearing black framed glasses that covered his golden eyes. "Who are you?" Gareki asked.

"My name is Jiki and from today on I have been assigned to be your trainer," the man replied assessing him. "Since you're cleared from you examination you can follow me to the training area." The man named Jiki walked out of the room, not even checking if the raven haired teen was following.

* * *

Gareki was currently standing in the largest room he had ever seen. The ceiling had to be twice as high as the one in the cafeteria and the width was three times as long. The room itself was pretty bare containing only large doors that led to unknown rooms. Gareki had discarded his coat a while ago to give himself more mobility since he didn't even know what kind of "training" he was going to receive. Jiki had disappeared a while ago into one of the side rooms and had told him to wait in here.

Jiki peaked his head around the door of the room he had disappeared into and asked, "You said you prefer using gun's or ranged weapons right?"

"Yeah," Gareki said. Jiki threw something through the air at him and he easily caught it. Glancing down at what he had caught he saw it was a well crafted black hand gun that had purple intricate designs and the Circus logo on it's side.

"If you're going to fight Varuga you're going to need special weapons," Jiki said as he walked out of the room toward Gareki. "Sure you could use your usual gun but only if you can shoot it ten times before it kills you. These guns are specifically designed to destroy Varuga on impact. Moving on to training, since I don't know how much experience you have we are just going to start off with target practice."

_'Are you kidding me?' _Gareki thought as Jiki went over to the control room. _'This is a complete waste of my time.'_

"Start in the center of the room and shoot at the targets as they come up," Jiki said over the loud speaker. Gareki reluctantly did as he was told and began to shoot at the rapidly appearing targets around the room. He was momentarily amazed by the power of gun, since when he shot, the target exploded into pieces. By the end of the first round Gareki had a perfect score of 100/100.

"Well it's better than what I expected, we're going to try moving targets now." With that the targets reappeared but were moving at fast speeds. By the end of the second round Gareki had an almost perfect score of 96/100. "Now that that's out of the way, have you ever seen a Varuga?" Jiki came out of the control room and walked toward Gareki.

"No but I have heard of them," Gareki said turning toward Jiki.

"We have one here that's used for training and I would like for you to experience what fighting a Varuga would be like." With that Jiki stepped back and used a remote control to open one of the large doors in the room.

_'It can't be that hard,' _Gareki thought confidently as he aimed his gun at the door, waiting for the Varuga to appear. It was silent only for a moment before the creature leaped out of it's cage and ran toward him. The Varuga easily evaded the shots that were fired at him and moved rapidly toward the shooter. Gareki was barely able to evade the first attack but in a matter of seconds, he was hit from behind and sent flying to the other end of the room. Gareki hit the floor hard and slid a good ten meters before his back connected with the wall. Stars danced in front of his vision and he head was spinning from the impact. By the time Gareki was able to sit up, Jiki had already restrained the Varuga and returned it to it's cage.

"Well, you lasted longer than Yogi did his first time."

* * *

Gareki was walking back to his room from training that day extremely sore. After the Varuga attack he had to learn hand to hand combat as well as more shooting techniques. It was already late in the evening and Gareki wanted to get more sleep before having another tortuous day with Jiki. He briefly wondered what kind of training Nai went through that day since he hadn't seen him since breakfast.

"The results that came back declared that Nai isn't human," said a hushed voice from a room that he walked by. Gareki stopped at hearing Nai's name and backtracked to the door. The door was left cracked open letting the sound float out. He peaked in through the crack to reveal Hirato's office. Hirato was sitting on one of the couches and Akari was sitting across from him on the other. "To be more exact he is part of a species known as Niji. Judging by the DNA work that was done on him I would say Kafka was the one that made him human."

"So what you're suggesting to me is that Nai could also be a spy?" Hirato casually asked.

"We can't rule out that possibility," Akari said seriously. "When they made him human they could have wired his brain so they can have mental contact and he could feed them information."

_'Nai's not human and he's a spy?'_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Thank you to those who support my story, you guys are awesome! Also thanks for catching that mistake in the earlier chapters, I went back and fixed that n.n

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Karneval or any of the characters, just my ideas

**Updates:** Look on profile

* * *

_'Nai's not human and he's a spy?'_

Gareki backed quietly away from the door, as to not be heard, and hurried back to his room. Once he was safely inside he closed the door and leaned against it, breathing out a sigh. Was Nai really as doctor Akari thought? Could such an innocent child be a device to destroy Circus? Was Nai doing this intentionally? Gareki thought about the questions throughout the night and didn't fall asleep until the early hours of the morning.

"Time to get up, Baa" said a sheep that looked exactly like the one from the other day. Heck, they all looked liked the one from the other day. Gareki felt so tired that he couldn't even muster the strength to be mad at the little thing. His body felt three times worse than last night. Sure he was considered fit due to living in the 2000 district where you had to fight to live every day but the training he went through yesterday was brutal. Jiki showed no mercy in kicking his ass and expect him to be ready for today. "Report to the cafeteria for breakfast, Baa." The sheep turned around and walked out, leaving a half-awake Gareki still laying on the bed.

* * *

Gareki grabbed pancakes and eggs from the buffet table and headed over to the table where Nai and Yogi were waving him down. The sight of Nai made Gareki pause for moment as he remembered what he had overheard last night.

_"So what you're suggesting to me is that Nai could also be a spy?" Hirato casually asked. _

_"We can't rule out that possibility," Akari said seriously. "When they made him human they could have wired his brain so they can have mental contact and he could feed them information."_

Taking a good look the niji, Gareki saw how his eyes lit up when he talked, the natural smile that spread across his face when he listened and the way his head tilt when he was trying to understand something. Gareki smiled to himself_, 'What was I thinking, I'll decide on my own if Nai is a spy or not. Who cares how he was made, it's how he is now that counts.' _He walked over and sat down next to the two "kids."

* * *

"Oof—" The wind was knocked out of Gareki as his back collided with the floor for the twentieth time that day. They were only two hours into training and Gareki was getting his ass handed to him in hand to hand combat yet again. Slowly pushing himself into a sitting position, he took a deep breath into his lungs that were demanding some much needed oxygen. He had always considered himself a decent fighter but against a trained member of Circus, he might as well be doing nothing.

"How many times must I tell you to keep your stance otherwise you'll end up as you are now," Jiki said, quickly losing his patients. "I even gave you the order in which I would attack you and you still refuse to listen." He glared at Gareki and was met with an equal glare back. "Let's try it again and this time—"

"All Circus fighters please report to meeting room A. Repeat, all Circus fighters please report to meeting room A, " said a voice over the loud speaker.

Jiki sighed, "Well I guess that ends today's training, looks like we there's going to be another raid. Feel free to continue practicing. Hopefully tomorrow will have better results than today." Jiki mumbled the last part to himself as he walked out the training room door.

* * *

Gareki walked back to his room after spending a long day practicing. Jiki had left around ten in the morning, leaving Gareki to freely practice on his own. He had divided his time between practicing shooting techniques and practicing his stances for hand to hand combat. He went into his room and closed the door behind him before falling onto the bed, feeling just as sore as yesterday. It was already 9 pm and strangely Gareki didn't feel tired.

The Circus members had left for the raid at noon that day, leaving only Nai, Gareki and the sheep aboard the ship. Yogi had told him that they would be back no later than two hours but it was already nine o'clock and they still had yet to return. He couldn't help but wonder why it was taking them so long. As he was thinking there was a soft knock on his door.

Gareki got up and opened his door. "Nai?"

"Um, could I come in? I was feeling lonely and Yogi isn't here so I thought I could talk to Gareki..." the shy niji said. Gareki sighed but stepped aside to let him in. Nai perked up and ran into the room, jumping onto the bed. Gareki walked over and sat down next to Nai on the bottom of the bed. "I-I'm kind of worried about Yogi, Tsukumo and the others. I wish they would come back already..."

"There's nothing to worry about, there is a reason why Circus is the number one organization," Gareki replied, easily hiding the fact that he too was worried. Admitting to the fact that it was unnatural for them to be gone this long would only worry Nai further, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

Nai spent the next few hours in Gareki's rooming talking about nothing in particular. Once it reached 11 pm Gareki decided it was time to get to bed. "Alright Nai let's get some sleep, you should head back to your room."

"Ok," Nai said as he hopped off the bed. He went to the door and watched Nai go into his room and shut the door. Just as he was about go back into his own room a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. As far as he knew, him and Nai were the only ones on the ship and that shadow was far too tall to be one of the sheep.

Walking down the hall where the shadow had disappeared Gareki stopped one of the sheep that were walking by. "Hey, are there any other people on this ship besides me and Nai?"

"No, Gareki and Nai are the only Circus members aboard the ship," the sheep replied.

_'So who was that then?' _Gareki thought as he continued down the hallway. Once he reached the end, he saw the shadow once again and chased it. After taking many turns Gareki ended up almost back at his own room. _'It's like I took one big circle.' _Gareki paused a moment to catch his breath and looked around_. 'The only thing that is of interest down this way would be...Nai's room!'_

* * *

Nai walked back into his room and sat down on the bed. Grabbing his pillow off the top of the bed he hugged it tightly to his chest_. 'I wish I could sleep in Garek's room but I know I will just bother him,' _Nai thought as he hugged the pillow tighter. Nai was about to lay down and go to sleep when he heard his door open.

"Gareki...?" Nai said as he turned toward the door.

"Hello Nai, do you remember me?" said a very familiar voice that belonged to the person he held most dear. Nai looked up at the person who was standing in his doorway. His light blue hair fell over a white bandage that was wrapped around his head and his blue eyes stared intently at Nai.

"Karoku?"


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** I struggled with this chapter a little bit but I hope it turned out well, enjoy anyway! Reviews are greatly appreciated.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Karneval or any of the character, just my ideas

**Updates:** Look on profile

* * *

_"Karoku?"_

"Nai," Karoku said softly to the niji as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him. Nai sat momentarily stunned on the bed and watched him with big eyes before jumping up and meeting him in the middle of the room. Nai wrapped his arms tightly around Karoku who in return gently placed his arms around Nai. "Nai," Karoku continued, "do you remember why I sent you to Circus?"

"Karoku sent me to Circus?" Nai raked his brain to remember but his mind only drew up blank.

"Yes, and you did well getting in, but I need you to come back with me." Karoku knelt down in front of the niji looking deep into his eyes.

"B-But why did Karoku send me to Circus?" Nai asked. He was getting more and more confused the further this conversation was going.

"I needed you to gather information for me and you followed my directions well but now it's time to go home." Karoku ruffled the hair on Nai's head before standing back up. Karoku opened his mouth to speak again but then he stopped, lips forming into a smirk. He instead turned toward the door. "Gareki you can come in, I would like to speak with you as well."

* * *

Gareki sprinted down the hall, stopping only when he reached Nai's room. Grabbing the handle, he was about open the door when he heard talking coming from inside.

"B-But why did Karoku send me to Circus?" Nai asked from behind the door.

_'Karoku? Who's that?' _Gareki thought as he let go of the door handle and instead pressed his ear to the door.

"I needed you to gather information for me and you followed my directions well but now it's time to go home." Karoku replied. There was a moment of silence and Gareki strained to hear anything else they were going to say. "Gareki you can come in, I would like to speak with you as well."

_'Crap! How did he—' _The door flew open and Gareki stumbled inside, catching himself before he did an ungraceful faceplant on the floor. Looking up, his eyes met a pair of light blue ones. _'Wait a minute, where have I seen him before?'_

"Hello Gareki, I believe this is the first time we have met. My name is Karoku Arumerita, I am the captain of the Kafka organization." Karoku said addressing the raven haired teenager. Gareki's eyes widened as he remembered the poster back in Central City. The man before him looked exactly the same as the one on the poster, minus the bandage. The unnerving feeling he had gotten from the poster didn't even compare to the feeling he was getting from the blue haired man now.

When Gareki didn't respond Karoku continued, "I am disappointed that you didn't accept the offer to join Kafka. To be more precise that is why I came to talk to you. However, I think that we need to have a more private setting. If you wish to know more then follow me." With a wave of his hand, Karoku created what appeared to be portal of light. Grabbing Nai's hand, he walked into the portal, confident that Gareki would follow since he had Nai.

Gareki reluctantly followed the two into the portal, not wanting to leave Nai with a strange person like him. When the light died down he looked at his surroundings and found that they were no longer on the Circus ship but instead in an open field that stretched for miles. The blue sky stretched overhead and a light breeze blew through the air.

"Where are we?" Gareki asked, watching Karoku suspiciously. Karoku was standing about ten feet from him with Nai by his side.

"We're in my world," Karoku said. "I created it so only certain people can enter but we can talk about that later. The reason I am here is because I want you to come to Kafka with me and Nai."

"Then tell me," Gareki replied without missing a beat, "why would Kafka be interested in a 2000 district citizen? I don't remember doing anything to gain the attention of Kafka."

"You didn't need to gain Kafka's attention Gareki, you already had it," Karoku replied. "Did you ever wonder why you were the only one who was able to survive the ship sinking six years ago? It wasn't because of luck but because you willed yourself not to die. You created a world, much like how I created mine, and slipped into that world during the attack. I was able to notice the slight shift within the dimensional walls that signified that a new world was created. I had sent Tsubaki to find who it was that created the new world and she found you."

Gareki's eyes widened at the mention of Tsubaki's name_. 'So Tsubaki worked for Kafka?' _"So why didn't Tsubaki turn me into Kafka?"

"She grew to attached since you reminded her of her own two siblings and refused to hand you over. I wasn't worried though, you would have to step forward eventually." Karoku spoke confidently and easily, as if he already had known how this conversation would go.

Karoku took a step forward, closing the space between him and Gareki and lengthening it between him and Nai. "It's a rare ability to be able to create worlds but one thing that I have never seen before is how you can travel to other worlds as well. No other person besides me and Nai should be able to enter my world but yet here you stand, as if it's perfectly normal."

Offering a hand to Gareki Karoku continued, "Come to Kafka Gareki, I can teach you how to create and travel to other worlds. Kafka can use your ability to the fullest, your time is only wasted in Circus." Karoku smiled at Gareki's uncertain look but knew he shouldn't press further today. "No need to answer right away, I'll give you some time to think about it. Next time we meet though, I'll expect you to have your answer ready."

Karoku walked back over to Nai. "Come along Nai, lets get going."

"U-Um, can I stay with Gareki? I-I don't want to leave Gareki," Nai said uncertainly. He felt unsure about this "new" Karoku, he didn't feel the same as he used to. Nai really didn't want to leave but he didn't want to make Karoku angry either.

Karoku studied the niji before the corners of his mouth moved into a slight smile. "That's fine Nai, I'll be seeing you soon as well then."

Karoku disappeared while the world around them turned into blackness. The butterflies that had been flying around burst into sparkles of light. Gareki blinked a few times and the next thing he knew he was back to standing in Nai's room, as if the past half an hour didn't occur. After a few moments of silence Gareki opened his mouth to ask Nai if Karoku had really been there but immediately shut it when the door burst open and the blond haired idiot, along with Tsukumo, walked into the room.

"Nai! Gareki! We're home!" Yogi quickly went over and wrapped his arms around Gareki and Nai, enveloping them into a tight hug. "I'm sorry it took so long, I hope you two didn't get lonely while we were away." Yogi nearly cried his apology as he hugged them tighter.

"Get off!" Gareki yelled as he tried to push Yogi away from him. The blond's over-emotional personality was only adding to his increasing headache. Gareki pinched the bridge of his nose trying to stop the oncoming headache but it didn't seem to be working. He walked out of the room to let Nai deal with the two Circus fighters and decided to head to his own room.

Gareki stopped in front of his door but before he opened it he changed his mind. Now would be the best time to demand some answers from from the four-eyed captain since everyone else was busy at the moment. Walking down the deserted halls, Gareki came to a halt outside of Hirato's office. The light inside was still on, indicating that the captain was still working. Gareki knocked on the door and entered when he was given the OK.

"Is there something I can help you with Gareki?" Hirato asked pleasantly from behind the desk he was sitting at.

"You knew didn't you, that's why you accepted me into Circus. You knew about my ability." Gareki watched Hirato for any sign of surprise but the captain kept a neutral face.

"It's true that I did discover your ability but that was not until you met with Akari," Hirato said as he leaned forward on the desk, reading all to well, by the expression on his face, that Gareki was upset that he had withheld this information. "The reason I didn't say anything, is not because I didn't want you to know, but because I didn't know myself. I have been looking into it but I wasn't going to tell you until I could answer your questions. May I ask how you came to know this information?"

Gareki sighed as he put his hands into his pockets. "I met with a man named Karoku."

"Karoku?" Hirato was well aware of who this man was and wasn't to happy about finding out that he had met with Gareki. "When did this happen?"

"When you were on your raid this evening," Gareki stated, " your security didn't do much to keep him out though."

"I see thank you for telling me. You should head back and get some sleep now, you still have training tomorrow." The tone in Hirato's voice said that the conversation had ended. Gareki wanted to argue and say he still had questions that needed to be answered but he knew Hirato won't say anything else on the subject. Gareki left the office and headed back to his own room.

* * *

"Time to get up, Baa" Gareki moaned and rolled over onto his side, facing away from the sheep. Shoving a pillow over his head to block out the noise Gareki decided he wasn't going to get up this morning and would instead spend the rest of the day in bed. Before he could drift back to sleep something clamped down on his ankle, yanking him out of bed. His back landed on the cold floor and his vision momentarily spun at the sudden wake up call. "Report to the cafeteria for breakfast, Baa." Once Gareki could see straight he sent a glare after the sheep as it walked out.

Getting up off the floor Gareki walked into the bathroom to start his usual routine. After brushing his teeth he took a shower, got dressed and then headed down to breakfast. Not feeling very hungry this morning, Gareki just grabbed a bagel from the buffet table and automatically walked over to where Nai, Yogi and now Tsukumo were sitting.

* * *

-SMACK-

Gareki stumbled back from the fist that had just collided with his face. Rubbing his sore jaw, he glared at Jiki.

"Didn't you practice at all yesterday? You seem worse than before." Jiki sighed as he looked at the Circus trainee. Yes, Gareki had practiced but he couldn't seem to bring his mind to concentrate on the fight. His mind kept flickering back to the conversation he had had with Karoku earlier. _'Create and travel to different worlds, huh?' _Jiki snapped his fingers in front of Gareki's face successfully bringing him out of his stupor. "I said lets go again."

Gareki blinked for a moment, trying to figure out what he was talking about, before he nodded and got into his fighting stance. Just as he was about to attack Jiki the door to the training room opened and Hirato walked in.

"Hirato, is there something you need?" Jiki turned to his superior, losing his stance.

"Yes," Hirato replied as he turned to address Gareki, "we have stopped over a town and I thought you and Nai should go walk around a bit. After all, it must be quite tiring with being stuck in the ship all the time." Jiki looked like he wanted to dissagree but one look from the captain shut him up.

"Uh ok," Gareki was a bit unsure as to what Hirato's motives were but agreed anyway, even though he didn't think he had much choice to begin with.

"Yay! Gareki's coming!" Yogi ran into the room, wrapping his arm around Gareki. Pushing his arm off, Gareki walked over to the door where Nai and Tsukumo were waiting.

"Wait a sec, take this with you just incase. Just don't shoot anyone with it." Jiki said as he tossed the gun Gareki had been training with over to him. Catching the gun easily Gareki tsked at his statement.

Yogi ran over to the three, "Let's go!"


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** Just in case anyone is wondering, I don't use honorifics at the end of names because I don't like the combination of Japanese and English. I don't like it when people use a couple random Japanese words in their stories, so I won't use them.

Also for the story I switched Jiki and Iva to the other ships, just in case that wasn't clear.

There's more I wanted to put into this chapter but it was already late so I finished it here. I'll just try to make the next chapter a little longer.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Karneval or any of the characters, just my ideas

**Updates:** Look on profile

* * *

_"Let's go!"_

As soon as the four left the room Jiki turned to the captain. "So what's the real reason for the sudden field trip? We've stopped over towns before and you didn't say anything about needing to take a break so don't give me the same excuse you gave Gareki."

Hirato chuckled at Jiki's suspicion. "Why don't you go down as well, it's good to get out often," was his only reply. He walked out of the room swiftly, not giving Jiki the opportunity to ask more questions.

Hirato went back to the control room and accessed the city's street cameras. The four kids appeared on one of the cameras; they were currently boarding a bus and no doubt heading toward Yogi's favorite store.

"That's cruel you know, using them as bait," Tsukitachi said as he entered the room. This wasn't the first time Hirato's used these tactics, granted no one has ever gotten hurt since they were all well-trained Circus members, but this time they had two new and barley trained fighters.

Hirato only smiled in response, sitting back casually and completely unfazed to watch the events unfold. "Yes, but they are perfectly safe," he replied, "and that is also why you and your ship are here, I have no doubt that Kafka will be making an appearance today. I assume you are aware of what you will need to do when they come?"

Tsukitachi smiled at his friend as he sat down in the chair next to him, leaning back comfortably against the chair's back. "Come on, I'm not that unreliable, I already know what you need me to do."

"So you are set up on the North side of the city, ready to cover the West if need be?" Hirato asked.

"...yes..." the first ship captain mentally facepalmed. Whipping out his phone he sent a message to Iva telling her to head to the Northern area of the city and to spread the word to other first ship members.

Hirato casted a quick glance at the other captain and smirked knowingly.

* * *

Gareki sighed as he glanced out the window of the city bus they were taking. Yogi had gotten excited and wanted to show them his favorite shop, hence why they were currently riding the bus across town. It was about noon by now and the sun was straight above them, leaving as little shade as possible. The temperature that day was extremely hot, making visible heat waves rise off of the road.

Nai was currently sitting next to him, on his right, while Yogi and Tsukumo sat behind them. He glanced over at Nai. They haven't spoken much in the past few days with all their training and the Karoku incident. Come to think of it, he still hadn't asked Nai about how his training was going.

"Nai," Gareki said, getting the niji's attention, "how has your training been going?" Gareki propped his elbow on the edge of the window and rested his head on his hand.

"Um, it's going well. I have a kind teacher and he is very helpful," Nai said with a smile.

"Huh? He? I thought you were being trained by Tsukumo..."

"Well, training wasn't going so good since I'm not very good when it comes to weapons so they had Akari teach me," Nai said.

"Oh, so you're in medical training now?" Gareki had not seen that one coming. Sure he never expected Nai to able to use a weapon but who knew he had a talent in medicine.

Nai nodded his head in reply just as their bus had reached their stop. A wave of heat slammed into them when they stepped off the air-conditioned bus and into the hot summer air. Gareki held up his hand to shield his eyes from the sudden bright light. With the sun being so high, it reflected off of every glossy surface, making the street unbelievable bright.

"Ah! There it is," Yogi said eagerly. Looking over to where the blond was pointing, his eyes fell upon a tall, pale pink building with a gargantuan yellow cat head. "Welcome to the Nyanperona Store!"

Gareki's eye twitched as he looked at the gaudy store. "I'm not going in," he said as he turned to walk away.

"Eh? But Gareki it'll be so much fun," Yogi looped an arm around Gareki's shoulders and dragged him inside.

"H-Hey!" He said as he was pulled inside and dropped off in the crowded store. Since it was midday, it was the busiest hour for business so there were many shoppers currently occupying the aisles. The inside of the store consisted of an abounding amount of bright colors with hundreds of different toys lining the walls and on stands in the middle of the room were mountains of Nyanperona plushies.

Gareki hid the look of disgust that was fighting to rise to the surface. All of the bright colors and childish toys were irritating him, not to mention the crowded aisles that were not helping his mood in the least. He took a quick glance around to see if Tsukumo or Yogi were around him but luckily they were all over by Nai showing him different Nyanperona toys. Taking their distraction as an opportunity, Gareki slipped through the crowd and out the front doors.

A sigh of relief left him once he was safely outside. The heat from the sun was extremely intense but anything was better than the suffocating store he had just come from. Deciding he was going to explore the rest of the city on his own, Gareki headed down the street, having no particular destination in mind.

* * *

After spending the next hour wandering around, visiting only a few places, Gareki found a decent amount of shade beneath a tree and decided to lie down for a bit. Pulling at the neck of his shirt, Gareki attempted to cool himself off. Walking around in the sun—in this heat—for an entire hour wasn't the wisest idea, considering he was already feeling immensely dizzy.

He put his hands behind his head to give it some support while he closed his eyes to stop the world from spinning. The raven haired teen lied there for a while, keeping his eyes closed, letting only his sense of smell and hearing to tell him what was going on around him.

As he lied there, the hot summer air changed into a swift cool breeze and the hard ground beneath him changed to that of soft, well-grown grass. Gareki's eyes shot open once he noticed the sudden change. He was no longer in the city beneath a tree but instead in a very familiar open, grassy field. Stopping a groan from escaping his lips, Gareki sat up and lock eyes with the blue haired man who had brought him here.

"Hello Gareki," Karoku said pleasantly. He was standing about ten feet away from him and was dressed in clothes very similar to the ones he had been wearing the first time they had met. "I expect you have your answer ready?"

"You sure didn't give much time to think about it," Gareki replied as he stood up to match Karoku. His hand subconsciously felt for the gun that was in his back pocket; it was a natural reaction for his after his years in the lower districts.

"I apologize for not giving you much time but I can tell that you have already made your decision."

"Yes," Gareki said. Pulling out his gun he aimed it for the center of Karoku's forehead. "I don't give a damn about you or Kafka, nor do I need your help with anything. I am perfectly fine in Circus so you better leave me the hell alone."

Gareki saw Karoku grimace at his response. Karoku began to walk forward and Gareki didn't hesitate to pull the trigger on the gun.

* * *

Hirato searched for the raven haired teen on the cameras but yielded to no result. A moment ago he had been watching Gareki when he suddenly disappeared. Hirato checked for the tracker he had put into his phone but there was no signal coming from that either. Using the computer, the captain called Yogi.

The phones the Circus members used possessed a holographic system that protruded multiple screens from it's base screen. When the phone was called, the system projected a video of the other person, allowing the users to view each other when speaking.

"Hello?" Yogi asked from the other end. He became a bit confused at why Hirato was suddenly calling.

"Yogi, I want to go and look for Gareki, I have a feeling he is in a bit of trouble right now," Hirato watched the blonds face turn from confused to that of shock.

"Gareki?!" Yogi looked around and finally realized that the teen wasn't with them. "Right! I'll head out right now."

"Look around the park area, that's where is signal cut off last," Hirato cut the connection once he had finished, only to reopen it when a new call came through. "What is it?"

"Kafka has appeared in the Northern area," came the first ship captains voice.

"As expected," murmured Hirato, "keep me updated if anything happens. I'm going to be stepping out for a bit."

* * *

-Step Step-

The area around them was completely silent except for the crunching of grass as the Kafka leader continued to walk forward. The gun in the teens hand was still positioned between them, aimed at the blue haired man's head. Gareki's figure was tensed on the trigger but no splitting sound ripped through the air, nor did anything erupt from the barrel of the gun.

_'I can't move!' _thought Gareki as he failed to pull the trigger. The raven soon found out that no part of his body would respond to his attempts to move it.

Karoku advanced on the boy and stopped only a few feet away.

"I want you to rethink your answer," Karoku said slowly, almost threateningly, to him. "Right now you are in my world and completely at my mercy. I could decide to kill you right now if I so please. Now tell me your answer."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** Thank you to all who voted, the results are in! 7-continue, 0-end  
Very one sided and it looks like the story is going to be longer!

**Tsuki Aizawa:** Thank you for the review, it was fun to read. As for the pairing question, I didn't intend for this story to have a pairing but I've been considering it lately, pairings always make the story more exciting. The only thing I'm unsure about is the readers who don't like yaoi pairings and would hate this story if I made it one.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Karneval or any of it's characters, just my ideas

**Updates:** Look on profile

* * *

_"Now tell me your answer."_

Karoku watched Gareki with a calculating gaze, waiting patiently for an answer. He wasn't worried or in a hurry, after all, he controlled the time that past in this world compared to the outside world. If he wished, years could pass in here while only minutes passed in the outside.

_'Damn it! Come on, move!' _Gareki strained his body to move as he tried to resist the control Karoku had on his body. Looking into the blue haired man's eyes, Gareki knew he was serious with his threat. There was no lie detectable in his gaze nor was there any bluff evident in his facial features.

_'Move!' _The muscles in his arm were beginning to shake with exhaustion but he could see the slight shift of his arm as it began to move where he wanted it to.

"Your answer, Gareki?" Karoku asked.

_'Move!' _Gareki could feel his hand tighten around the gun and his finger pressed firmer onto the trigger. His entire body became lighter as he could now move freely. Keeping as still as possible to make it appear that he still couldn't move, a smirk made it's way to his lips.

"You want my answer?" Gareki replied. "Well, I've already given it to you." At the last part Gareki swung the gun toward Karoku and fired.

Karoku couldn't stop the look of surprise the flashed across his face as the bullet moved expeditiously toward him. He was able to move at the last second, the bullet missing the vital spot it had been aimed for, but instead imbedding itself into his left shoulder.

Karoku stumbled slightly at the sudden pain that erupted from his shoulder when he had tried to move his arm. How was he able to break free of his bind without him even knowing about it?! The hand that belonged to the arm that wasn't injured was pressed firmly over the open wound to stop the blood loss.

The momentary loss of concentration caused his grip on his world to weaken to the point that it's stability was now in a critical state. The area around them, that was once a perfectly realistic environment, now became a shimmering and distorted field of colors that was threatening to succumb to blackness.

Gareki glanced around him at the collapsing world; this would be the ideal time to try and escape this prison. While Karoku was currently occupied with keeping the world together, Gareki closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He had absolutely no idea what he was concentrating on, but he figured it was a good way to start. He knew that he had powers similar to Karoku and he always made these worlds using his mind so his should be used in a similar way.

Keeping his eyes closed, Gareki thought about pushing a hole through the barriers of the world around him and into the outside world. Opening his eyes, he found that his efforts yielded to no result and he was still standing in the same place he had been moments earlier. He closed his eyes again and this time drew on his inner strength until he could feel a tightening in his chest. Instead of pushing outwards with his mind, he pushed outwards with the strength he had gathered, releasing all the built up pressure at once.

He opened his eyes and saw a portal of light before him, much like the one Karoku had created the first time they had met.

_'This has got to be it,' _he thought. Taking one last look at the Kafka captain that was kneeling on the ground in pain and concentrating on his crumbling world, Gareki stepped through his portal. He did not, however, miss the look from Karoku that told him this would not be the last time they would see each other. _'Fine by me.'_

* * *

_Slice Slice _Yogi continued to destroy the varuga that were attacking him, Nai and Tsukumo. The moment the three of them had reached the park they were swarmed by varuga from every direction, almost as if they were protecting something. As far as Yogi could tell, they were only in the park area, but he had no way of knowing how the rest of the city was fairing.

Tsukumo was currently protecting Nai while Yogi had ventured a little ways from the group to look for any sign of their missing friend. He didn't have much time to look because for every one varuga he destroyed it seemed like two more took it's place.

Yogi was about to call to Tsukumo and tell her that they should temporarily retreat to get some more back up, when a blinding white light filled his vision. He flung his arm across his face to block out the light so fast that he nearly dropped his sword in the sea of varuga. Glancing behind him, he saw that Nai and Tsukumo were doing the same thing.

It was only a moment until the light faded and the three Circus members were able to unshield their eyes. Yogi looked down to where the light had once been and saw only the raven haired teen standing in it's spot. Gareki was wearing the same surprised look as the rest of them, but became even more surprised when he noticed the Kafka army around him.

The varuga only stayed stunned for a moment before resuming their attacks on the Circus members. Gareki was able to dodge the first few attacks before one of the varuga rammed into his side and sent him flying further from the group. He continued to skid across the ground until his back collided with the base of a tree.

Stars danced across his vision as he tried to clear the fog from his mind. Somewhere off in the distance he could hear the blond shouting for him but the words were lost the surrounding noise.

The moment his vision cleared he noticed Yogi was fighting to get to him and was shouting a warning. Gareki looked to his right and saw a varuga coming straight for him, mouth open and ready to devour him. He instinctively reached for his gun but the pocket was empty. Gareki would have facepalmed if he had time to; he had been holding his gun when he left Karoku's world and lost it when he had been hit by the varuga.

The varuga was decreasing the distance to him alarmingly fast and the only thing Gareki could do was throw his hands up to protect his head. Gareki's whole body tensed as he waited for the inevitable impact, this was going to hurt.

Seconds ticked by and nothing seemed to be happening. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see that there were no varuga coming for him nor were there any within a ten meter radius of him. Gareki began to push himself up, only to collapse when blinding pain shot up his back. _'Damn, must have hit that tree harder than I thought.'_

The nearby varuga saw the movement and rushed to attack the injured Circus member. Gareki lifted his hand, focusing on the tightening in his chest and releasing it. In a flash of light the surrounding varuga once again disappeared. A smirk made it's way to his lips, _'Huh, so that's how it works.'_

Gareki was easily able to keep the varuga away until the blond could come to help him. Yogi glanced curiously at his friend once he was next to him, how was he able to destroy that many varuga? He shook his head to refocus on the task at hand, there was time for questions later, right now he needed to focus on protecting his friends. Although he was starting to tire from the relentless fighting, he refused to give in, especially when he was needed.

Yogi was about to rush forward to meet the oncoming varuga when a hand shot out of nowhere and blocked his path. He blinked a few times to make sure the hand was really there before looking up at it's owner. Hirato stood confidently in front of the two fighters, easily fending off the varuga that tried to attack them.

"Yogi," Hirato said, "why don't you take the others and head back to the ship, I can finish cleaning up here."

"Right away!" Yogi replied turning to the teen. Just as he kneeled down to help him up, Gareki suddenly clutched his head is agony.

"Ugh..." Gareki's head felt as if it were splitting open and anything he did only served to make it worse. Even opening his eyes cause the pain to double. He pressed his hands to the side of his head, hoping to lessen the pain. _'What's going on?'_

Yogi became startled at his friends sudden actions. He knew he had to bring him to Akari quickly so he picked him up bridal style, being careful not to put too much pressure on his back, and headed over to where Tsukumo and Nai were.

"Hey! I can walk on my own!" Gareki yelled at the blond through the pain, feeling a bit embarrassed at being carried.

"But Gareki, you're hurt and you shouldn't push yourself," Yogi replied uncertainly, still holding onto him. "Besides, you won't be able to make it to the ship on your own, you don't have a Circus I.D."Gareki stopped struggling, he knew Yogi was right, but he still didn't like it.

Yogi flew over to Tsukumo and motioned that they were to return to the ship. She nodded quickly before picking up Nai and following him.

Hirato watched from the ground as his subordinates flew into the ship. He then took off his top hat, successfully summoning his four banshees. "Now it's my turn."

* * *

Gareki was currently lying on a hospital bed aboard the second ship, unable to sleep because of the throbbing pain coming from his head. The lights around him were dimmed and the windows had to curtains drawn to minimize the light. Akari had examined him a few hours ago and told him that there was nothing permanently wrong with him. His headache was caused because he overused his powers, especially since they had never been used before. His back was fine as well, there will just be some heavy bruising.

Although he had been given pain medication, his headache refused to lighten so he remained in the hospital in case it became worse. Gareki groaned and rolled over onto his side, even the dimmed lights still hurt. _'What have I gotten myself into?'_


End file.
